


you're my only virtue (and I'm virtually yours)

by stupidstuckonstucky



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: 5 Times, Angst with a Happy Ending, Light Angst, M/M, Natasha Is a Good Bro, Not Canon Compliant, Peggy is a good bro, Peggy would be the ultimate bro okay, Sam Wilson Is a Good Bro, Tony Is a Good Bro, Wanda Is a Good Bro too, even though she lost her bro, okay that was not funny sorry, why was that not a tag before?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-14
Updated: 2016-07-14
Packaged: 2018-07-23 21:26:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7480734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stupidstuckonstucky/pseuds/stupidstuckonstucky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Natasha sighs. She really needs to talk to Sam about these talks he keeps having with Steve.</p>
<p>She looks over at Steve. He’s sitting on the edge of the bed, fists clenched in the sheets to stop them from shaking, and –</p>
<p><em>Oh</em>.</p>
<p>Steve didn’t just love Bucky. He was <em>in love</em> with Bucky.</p>
<p>or a 5 times fic where someone realizes Steve's in love with Bucky +1 when that someone is Bucky himself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	you're my only virtue (and I'm virtually yours)

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there!
> 
> So, a couple of things.
> 
> 1) I basically took the timeline and mucked it up. It's sort of in order of the movies but the amount of time between is probably (definitely) not accurate
> 
> 2) There are also inaccuracies in terms of events? Like I know in the movies that Steve's exhibition went up only after he was found but for the sake of this fic, it was up before. There are other things but honestly I've read so much fic in the last few weeks that I don't know what's comic canon/movie canon/other people's headcanon anymore. 
> 
> Hope this doesn't bother folks too much. 
> 
> Happy reading and let me know what you liked or didn't like! :D

1) Sam

A while back, someone, he thinks it could have been his cousin, had asked him if following Captain America on his wild goose chase was worth it. At the time, he had said yes, without a doubt. But now, he’s not so sure.

The thing is, it’s always the same. They follow a trail, they bust some bad guys, and they always, always, return with nothing.

No clues.

No Bucky.

Just a heartbroken Steve.

They've just returned from yet another fruitless hunt, this time a two month trip across South America, and honestly, Sam doesn’t know how much more he can take.

“Maybe it’s time to let this go, Steve,” he says, gently.

Steve turns to him with a look of complete betrayal and Sam is convinced that it must be treason of sorts to be responsible for that look.

“No. Absolutely not.”

“Steve, he’s one of, if not the best spy in the history of the world. Don’t you think he realizes we’re following him around by now?” he asks, exasperated.

“I can’t just give up on him Sam! It’s Bucky. Wouldn’t you do the same if it was Riley?”

Sam stiffens. It’s a low blow. And judging by the flash of regret on Steve’s face, he knows it too. Steve tries again.

“If you knew your best guy was out there and he needed you now more than ever, wouldn’t you look for him?” Steve pleads, trying to get Sam to understand. “I let him go once. I’m not doing it again.”

Steve walks out, done with the conversation. Sam scowls and heads to the kitchen. He needs a beer.

The damn thing is, Steve’s right. If there was even a smidge of a chance that Riley was alive, Sam would go hunting for him, no questions asked.

But the difference between Bucky and Riley is that Riley isn’t a brainwashed highly trained super assassin.

Even if they did catch Bucky, Sam doesn’t know if they’ll really have _Bucky_. He knows from his time at the VA that even the guys who go off for months, never fully return. Who knows what 70 something years of brainwashing can do.

He’s told Steve this a million times but Steve refuses to listen to him. Just crosses his arms, juts his chin out and says “He saved me, Sam” like that just overrules everything. Steve is such a stubborn asshole. If Sam ever properly meets Bucky, he’s going to bow down to him for putting up with Steve all those years.

Sam sighs.

He should probably go apologize to Steve. He doesn’t think he’s wrong, oh no sir. Sam is 100% right. But right now, Sam is the only person Steve has and it’s more important to him that Steve knows Sam has his back, even if they disagree.

Sam deserves a fucking gold star.

He goes up to Steve’s room. The door isn’t completely shut so he nudges it open and walks in. The room’s empty but Sam hears the shower running so he knows Steve hasn’t ran off on his own. He’ll just have to come back later.

He turns to leave when he steps on something cold and yelps.

What the heck.

He scowls at the suspecting item before realizing they’re Steve’s dog tags. He leans down to pick them up when his eye catches the name on the top tag and -

Holy fucking shit.

Sam wants to kick himself.

You’d think that after spending the last year and a half following Steve around the world on his manhunt, Sam would’ve figured it out.

But no.

Because Sam Wilson is a fucking moron and honestly how the heck had he not noticed it before? Steve had always called Bucky his best guy. He really should’ve known that best guy was old people slang for 'boyfriend whom I love to death but can’t say as much because then we might actually die because fuck homophobia.'

Sam picks up Steve’s dog tags from the floor and brushes his thumb over the _James Buchanan Barnes_ engraved in the metal. He had heard before that back in the day, couples in the army would swap one tag with the other as a sign of commitment. He had never met anyone who had actually done it though.

It makes sense now, why Steve never took them off unless he was in the shower. He always had them on him somewhere, tucked carefully under his suit or in his pocket. He remembers when Steve thought he had lost them at a Hydra base they raided. He had trashed the already trashed place looking for them.

He wonders why Steve never said anything. He’s never alluded to him and Bucky being more than just friends. Surely he knew that Sam didn’t care about his sexuality?

Sam thinks of asking him but nah. Sam isn’t the kind of person who pries and he knows that if Steve wanted Sam to know about him and Bucky, he would tell him.

Sam hears the shower go off and quickly sets the tags back on the floor. He slips out, making sure to shut the door behind him.

Maybe Steve isn’t ready to talk about it but when he is, Sam will be there.

He’s Steve’s best friend after all.

2) Natasha

Steve’s staring at the wall in front of him, frowning so deep that Natasha considers making an old man joke so that he’ll stop. She’s about to say something about frown lines when in a voice so soft he asks, “What if he’s gone, Nat?”

Nat casually wipes the blood off her dagger with a rag. “What do you mean gone? He’s still alive, you know that much at least.”

“No, I mean, what if he’s not Bucky anymore? I know that he recognizes me but what if the Winter Soldier has completely taken over? He’s been the Winter Soldier longer than he’s been Bucky Barnes. What if there’s too much Winter Soldier and not enough Bucky Barnes? How do I -” he breaks off, voice trembling.

Natasha sighs. She really needs to talk to Sam about these talks he keeps having with Steve.

She looks over at Steve. He’s sitting on the edge of the bed, fists clenched in the sheets to stop them from shaking, and –

_Oh_.

Steve didn’t just love Bucky. He was _in love_ with Bucky.

She’s not really surprised. Hindsight 20/20 it’s actually glaringly obvious and she should’ve picked up on it. She’s more surprised that Steve has kept this to himself for so long and she wonders exactly how much pain her friend is going through.

She has, a story of sorts, that she thinks would offer Steve some comfort even though just thinking about it makes her feel queasy. She hates talking about her past.

But Steve, Steve’s gone through so much. Steve’s saved her life. She can be a little uncomfortable for him.

“When I was eight,” she starts, slowly testing out the words as she gets her heart rate to slow down. “A man came in to train us. He was different from the others. Me and the other girls were sort of used to being yelled at and punished by then but this one never did any of that. He wasn’t friendly by any means but he’d encourage us if he saw us struggling and he was always patient when he corrected us.”

Natasha lets out an empty laugh. “He even acknowledged us when we did things right. Can you imagine that? Here we were, the Red Room’s finest, and yet all it took was a pat on the head for us to turn back into little kids.”

Natasha pauses, biting down hard on her lip before continuing. “He remembered our names, every single one of us, and he always used them even though we had our assigned numbers. He –,” her voice drops and Steve reaches to put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “He treated us like human beings instead of weapons. He was the only one to ever do that.”

“What happened to him?” Steve asks softly, making sure not to startle her into stopping.

Natasha’s gaze snaps over to meet his and when they do, her eyes are lit with an anger Steve has never seen before.

“They took him away. One of the other handlers heard him saying my name and felt that we were getting too attached. The next time I saw him, he had no idea who I was but I remembered him.”

She smiles wryly. “After all, how many assassins with metal arms could there be?”

Steve gasps and pulls back his hand like he’d just been burned.

“ _Bucky trained you_?” he asks, voice full of disbelief. Natasha nods.

“It was only for a handful of months but you know how good he is at making an impression,” she says drily.

Steve snorts, the corners of his mouth lifting a little. Natasha considers it a win.

They sit in silence for awhile, Natasha letting Steve process. Knowing Steve, there’s probably a question coming so she picks up the next dagger and continues cleaning.

“Why are you telling me this?”

“I’m not really one for optimism but I know you are. I guess I just wanted you to know that your friend is still in there somewhere. He’s probably buried real deep, but he’s there.”

Natasha’s never told anyone but Bucky, or Yasha to her then, was the closest thing she’s ever had to a parent. When the Winter Soldier hadn’t recognized her and shot her, she swore she would get her revenge on Hydra for killing the only remotely good part of her childhood.

But to Steve, Bucky was so much more than a happy memory. Bucky was all his happy memories.

And no one, SHIELD be damned, was going to stop her from helping him.

3) Wanda

“Captain?”

“Wanda,” he answers, offering a polite smile. “What can I do for you?”

“I have a question, a personal question, for you if it’s alright?”

The Captain’s shoulders tense but he gestures to the empty seat across from him and she takes it.

“Your nightmare,” she starts, hesitant. Wanda doesn’t usually make it a point to ask about the nightmares of her victims. It’s not like she gets any pleasure out of unleashing their worst fears. The less she knows about them, the better she sleeps at night.

But ever since she saw Captain America’s worst nightmare, she’s had this nagging feeling that she can’t get rid off. She’s seen a lot over the years and objectively speaking, his nightmare wasn’t even close to being the scariest. Yet there was something about his that had felt different and she can’t figure out why.

An eyebrow goes up. “What about it?”

“It was... different from anything I’ve ever felt before. Usually people are terrified. The fear overwhelms them and they just stop functioning. That’s how it works you know?”

It’s genius really. Turning a person’s mind against them. It’s almost too easy.

“But you. Yours felt nothing like that. I didn’t understand it before but now -”

She shudders. She’ll never forget how it felt when Pietro’s heart stopped. How sudden and intense the pain was, like someone had reached around her heart and clenched it with all their might.

The Captain’s nightmare had felt a lot like that.

“Now I know that what you were feeling was grief. But what I don’t understand is why.”

He smiles sadly at her. “Wanda, I’m technically 98 years old. Everyone in my nightmare was either already dead or dying in real life. Death isn’t really something for me to be afraid of anymore.”

She frowns. She hears what he’s saying and she has no doubt it’s true but there’s more to it than that and she knows it.

“No that’s not it,” she says, pushing some more. “You were sad at first, yes. But then the woman said something to you and something changed. The thing she said, that was what broke you in the end.”

The Captain inhales sharply and turns to look out the window. Even through his reflection, she can see the pain in his eyes. For a second, she almost regrets asking.

She moves to stand, mouth opening to apologize when he says, voice distant, “Home. She said we could go home.”

His voice cracks and Wanda is seriously starting to wish she never asked. She’s never seen the Captain be anything less than rational and she has no clue how to handle it.

Wanda is not prepared to handle an emotional Captain America.

He takes a deep breath, in out, and closes his eyes. “Are you familiar with The Winter Soldier?”

The Winter Soldier. Highly trained super assassin responsible for over two dozen assassinations over the last 5 decades. Yeah, she read the file.

“The person they used to make him was - is - Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes.”

The name sounds oddly familiar to her. She repeats it in her head, over and over as she watches the Captain’s fingers twist tighter and tighter around the material of his pants until -

Sergeant James Buchanan “Bucky” Barnes.

Also known as, Captain America’s childhood best friend.

She had been told that they were close. As close as brothers even. It had been him and Bucky since the beginning and it was supposed to be him and Bucky until the end.

But then Bucky had fallen off the train and the rest was history.

“After my ma passed, Bucky was all I had. Then they took him away and I -,” he cuts himself off and starts again. “In my dream, Peggy said we could go home. But I didn’t know where home was.”

It all clicks for her then.

Captain America’s worst nightmare might be about losing his comrades, the war, maybe even that woman.

But Steve Roger’s worst nightmare was losing Bucky.

Because for Steve, home was not four walls and a leaky roof or even this stupid shiny tower Stark had built. Home was a living, breathing person with bright blue eyes and a Brooklyn drawl that could charm the pants off even the likes of Maria Hill, if he tried hard enough.

And if Bucky Barnes no longer exists, where is Steve Rogers supposed to go?

She can’t imagine what it must feel like, to have the most important person in your life taken from you only to have an empty version of them return. She thinks of her brother. There’s nothing she wants more than to have him back. But at what cost?

Wanda reaches across the table and puts a hand on Steve's. He must be going through so much pain and yet he holds it together for the sake of everyone around him. She’s never pitied and admired Steve more than in this moment.

“Cap - Steve,” she corrects herself. “If you’d like, my powers, they aren’t limited to just nightmares.”

Steve tilts his head and raises an eyebrow, not getting it. She continues.

“I can evoke memories too.”

She watches as his eyes widen in understanding and start to fill with tears.

Oh God. She’s made Captain America cry. They’re going to _deport_ her.

He squeezes her hand, so tight she’s starting to lose feeling in her fingers, and offers a watery smile.

“Thank you, Wanda. I - I don’t know what to say.”

She pulls back, getting up to leave. “Consider it a thank you for all you’ve done for me.”

She smiles gently at him and leaves the room, the sound of soft sniffling echoing behind her. She tells JARVIS to keep everyone away from this space for the next few hours, yes, even if Clint and Natasha use the vents.

Captain America may have signed up for this Avengers shit, but right now, Steve Rogers deserves a moment to grieve.

4) Tony

Tony sighs, watching the liquid gold of his whiskey slosh around as he swirls his glass.

He just found out that the Winter Soldier – Bucky – was responsible for killing his parents and instead of trying to arrest him, Captain America was out there trying to protect him.

Tony thinks it’s fucking bullshit.

“JARVIS,” he calls out.

“Yes sir?”

“Do you think the Winter Soldier deserves to be _protected_?”

JARVIS doesn’t answer and Tony’s annoyance kicks up a notch.

“Well?”

“Sir,” JARVIS says, and Tony frowns because JARVIS sounds hesitant.

“Just spit it out, JARVIS,” he snaps.

“Well, while I do understand and sympathize with what you have discovered sir, I also think that Sergeant Barnes shouldn’t be blamed for his crimes.”

Tony jumps to his feet, and flings the glass, smashing it into a nearby wall. “You think the Winter Soldier is _innocent_?”

“No, sir. I think that Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes and the Winter Soldier are two separate entities. Sergeant Barnes is a victim of extreme torture and brainwashing. The Winter Soldier is a weapon sir, just like your suit. Sergeant Barnes was just the unfortunate soul forced to use it.”

“Do not compare me to that murderer!”

“Sir, from what I have gathered from your father’s journals, he and Sergeant Barnes were fairly good acquaintances. Given the nature of their relationship, I am inclined to believe that Sergeant Barnes could not have killed your parents had he been in the right state of mind.”

Tony scoffs. Wait.

“Did you say my father’s journals, JARVIS?”

“Indeed, sir.”

“I read my father’s journals. He never mentioned the W -, Sergeant Barnes in any of them.”

“Those were his work journals, sir. He also kept a stash of personal journals.”

Tony lets out a long exhale and cradles his head in his hands. “Have them scanned for me,” Tony demands. He can’t believe he hadn’t known they existed.

“Right away, sir.”

It takes JARVIS all of half an hour to do as he is asked and Tony spends the next few days going through them.

From his personal journals, Tony discovers that his father not only had a sense of humor but also the ability to care for the people around him. Who knew?

He reads about how Howard met Bucky the day after Steve rescued him from Zola’s lab and how they got along instantly. Apparently Bucky had a fascination with engineering and Howard had only been too delighted to have someone else share his love.

It was clear to Tony that though Howard had admired and respected Steve, he had _liked_ Bucky and thought of them as friends. He hated to admit it but JARVIS was right.

“Damn it. Damn it all to hell,” Tony curses, swiping a hand over his face. He needs a break.

He heads down to his lab and tries tinkering with a bunch of different things before his curiosity gets the better of him and he goes to continue reading the rest of his father’s journals.

When Tony reaches the part about Bucky’s death, he notices the pages are stained in multiple places. As if Howard had been crying when he wrote them.

Huh. He didn’t know his father even knew how to cry.

The writing stops the day after Steve crashes the Valkyrie into the Arctic. The last entry is short.

_Steve’s gone._

_I’ve failed Bucky._

_He asked only one thing of me and I failed._

_I have to find Steve. I don’t care if I have to thaw out the whole goddamn Arctic to do it. They may have stopped me from finding Bucky but they can’t stop me looking for Steve. I need to find Steve for Bucky._

_I’m sorry Bucky. God I’m so, so sorry._

All this time, Tony thought that Howard’s obsession with Captain America, the continuous searching, all of it, had been because his father was interested in the science behind the serum. But really, Howard had done it because he felt guilty. Guilty because despite all his genius, he hadn’t been able to save Steve.

Guilty because he had broken his promise to Bucky.

What Tony couldn’t understand was why Bucky had made Howard promise such a thing in the first place. They were in a war and Steve had enlisted. Bucky knew the risks. Tony knew Bucky and Cap were best friends and that Bucky had been protective of Steve but this was different.

It was almost as if –

No.

Could it be?

Could Bucky and Cap have been _in a relationship_?

Tony knows it wasn’t legal back then so he wouldn’t expect to find anything on them in the books. But with his father’s guilt then and Steve’s persistence today, surely they had to be more than just friends?

“Do you understand now, sir?”

Tony sighs. Even in death, his father still manages to make his life difficult. “JARVIS, call Captain Rogers and tell him to go get his bird friend and come over. And tell them to get ready for a long night.”

5) Peggy

Of course Peggy knew.

It had taken Steve all of a second to decide he was storming into Zola’s lab once Phillips said he wasn’t going to. He hadn’t even stopped to think about what he was doing. He just knew that he had to go.

After, when the story is told and retold, people would use many words to describe the Captain. Determined, brave, daring.

But they hadn’t seen what she saw. They hadn’t seen his horror when the numbers 107 registered in his head or the fury that flashed when he realized they had been left to die. They hadn’t seen the desperation of a man who had just been told his entire world was falling apart.

Peggy wasn’t stupid. Steve had told her about Bucky. Or rather, Steve had gushed endlessly about Bucky since the moment she asked him about his life. Everything he did, everything he was, revolved around Bucky.

However, Peggy Carter was also realistic. She didn’t want to get in between them, but she also knew that it wasn’t possible for them to be together. She knew Steve loved her, maybe not as much as he loved Bucky, but she was confident that she and Steve could be happy together. They loved each other enough for that.

But when Bucky died, so had the light in Steve's eyes. She knew then that she would never come close to being what Bucky was to Steve.

So when Steve told her he was taking a rain check on the dance he owed her, she had already known that Steve had set out looking for Schmidt with no plans to ever return. Bucky was gone and he didn’t want to live anymore. The will in him had left together with Bucky and nothing, not even Peggy, could bring it back.

Much later, when folks from the Smithsonian reached out to her about their Captain America exhibit, she felt it was only fair that they included a section on Bucky Barnes. After all, he was such an integral part of Steve’s life.

As she watches the clip of them laughing, she can’t suppress the sad smile that appears as a heavy feeling settles in her chest.

They may not have been able to be together when they were alive but Peggy Carter was going to do her damn best to have them together in history.

+1 Bucky

After two years of tracking and chasing Bucky across the world, Steve finally accepted that if Bucky wanted to be found, he would let them find him.

Of course it only takes a week after that for Bucky to show up at Steve’s apartment.

It’s been eight months since that night and tonight they’re all gathered at Stark Tower (“IT”S AVENGERS TOWER NOW GUYS! Does nobody see the giant A at the top?!?”) when Bucky suddenly looks up from his chess game with Bruce and stares straight at Steve with a wide-eyed expression.

Steve tenses. Bucky hasn’t completely recovered but he has most of his memories back and he hasn’t had a Winter Soldier episode for two months now. Not wanting to trigger anything, he calmly asks, “What’s wrong, Buck?”

“You’re in love with me,” Bucky says, voice full of awe.

_Well_. Steve was definitely not prepared for _that_.

One of the things that Sam and his team of Stark and T’Challa hired experts have been working on was helping Bucky feel safe expressing and making decisions again. Once, Bucky had broken out into a panic attack and hid in the closet after being asked how he wanted his eggs. Steve had just stood there and stared, unsure if he wanted to burst into tears or go on a HYDRA hunting spree. Sam, thankfully, had been loads calmer about it all and slowly coaxed Bucky out while Steve got it together.

Bucky’s made so much progress since then. He can make decisions on his own now without referring to Steve or Sam and he’s become extremely vocal about his opinions on just about everything, going as far as arguing with people on the internet about how Captain America _most certainly does not_ endorse the orange turd trying to be president.

But clearly they still needed to work on social boundaries.

“Um, Buck,” Steve stammers, full out flushing now as he avoids looking at the other people in the room.

“You always used to make this face whenever I went out dancing with a dame...” Bucky says, voice far away like he's reminiscing.

Steve involuntarily scowls at the memories of all the different women over the years but quickly stops when Bucky notices and excitedly says, “Yeah, just like that!”

“At first I thought it was because you wanted someone too, you know?” Bucky continues, oblivious to Steve’s discomfort. “But I remember watching you look at Peggy and making the exact same face. God, I hated it so much, I wanted to throw up.”

“Hang on,” Tony pipes up. “You mean you guys weren’t together before… all this?” Tony asks, waving a hand to emphasize just how much _this_ was.

Steve chokes, eyes bulging out of his head. “You thought Bucky and I were ah, um, a –“

“Couple, yes,” Natasha supplies. Her eyes narrow. “Are you saying that you _aren’t_?”

Steve shakes his head. He can feel his ears turning red. “Bucky and I aren’t like that. He’s - we’re best friends. That’s all,” he says weakly.

“You have his dog tags,” Sam says, jumping up and causing the T’Challa in his lap to fall to the floor, as he points an accusing finger at Steve the same time Wanda looks up from her book and says, “But Steve your nightmare!”

Steve shoots Wanda a dirty look and makes a mental note to ask Sam how the heck he knows about Steve’s dog tags but first, he needs to resolve this thing with Bucky.

“Buck,” he says slowly. “You were probably upset because Peggy ignored you. You weren’t exactly used to that. I mean, every time we went out you almost always had a different girl and -"

“But I never went home with them,” Bucky interrupts, frowning. “I never did anything with those girls, Steve. I always came home. I always came home to you.”

Steve blinks at him, ignoring the loud thumping of his heartbeat. “What - what are you saying Buck?”

Bucky cocks his head, grinning like the jerk that he is. Steve wants to punch him and kiss him at the same time. “I’m saying, that I know you’re in love with me, Steven Grant Rogers. And I’m in love with you too. Have been since you were a dumb punk picking fights you couldn’t win.”

Steve just gapes at Bucky, eyes filling with tears. He can’t think. Can’t process the words coming out of Bucky’s mouth because if he’s hearing things right, if Bucky’s actually saying what Steve thinks he’s saying -

He lets out a whimper, hands reaching out for Bucky and the next thing he knows, Bucky’s right there with him, pulling him into a tight hug as Steve buries his face into Bucky’s neck and sobs. After _years_ of pretending that what he felt for Bucky was just the way best friends were supposed to feel, _decades_ of pining and wanting and _loving_ this man -

Bucky's saying he loves Steve too.

“Shhh,” Bucky says, curling his metal arm around Steve’s waist and gently stroking Steve’s back with his flesh one. “I know, Stevie. I know. I’m sorry it took me so long.”

“Please don’t leave me again, Buck. _Please,_ ” Steve begs between sobs. “I won’t survive it again Bucky, I can’t -”

“Hey, hey,” Bucky says, pulling back to cup Steve’s face in his hands. “I’m right here, Stevie, okay? I’m never going anywhere ever again, I promise. I’m here now, I got you.”

Steve looks up at him and hiccups. “You,” hiccup. “Got me.”

Bucky smiles, gently swiping away Steve’s tears and leaning forward to press a long overdue kiss to Steve’s lips.

“Til the end of the line, sweetheart,” he mumbles against Steve’s smile. “Til the end of the goddamn line.”

**Author's Note:**

> Wanda’s conversation with Steve was largely inspired by part of this Youtube comment:
> 
> “His fear is that if he did come back, the war would never leave him. Look at how he flinches from the photos like they're gunshots and sees wine as blood. And Peggy, his regret telling him he can go home. And as soon as she says home and for him to imagine it, he sees nothing. Steve doesn't have a home anymore. God this broke me.” 
> 
> Of course I read the last bit and thought STEVE DOESN’T HAVE A HOME ANYMORE BECAUSE BUCKY’S DEAD. I can’t help it. I have severe tunnel vision when it comes to my ships. 
> 
> Anyway, hopefully that wasn’t too cringey of a read. Thanks for reading and hmu on stupidstuckonstucky.tumblr.com if you wanna say hi and cry about Steve, Bucky, and/or the folks who play them!
> 
> Have a good day and thanks again for reading!


End file.
